Tuliptree Blossom with Guest
Another Day at Work
Apis Workers' Party
Predator
Some of Your Beeswax
Sedum Bumbler
Look of Defiance
Chicory Bee
Bumbling Bees
Garden Cafe
Buzz By Here - To Infinity and Beyond
Pick Your Poison
Blind Side Attack
On a Mission
Honey Bee on Sedum
Covering the Cosmos
Center of the Cosmos
Three's a Crowd
Popular Spot
On A Pedestal
Big Harry Fireworks Display
To Impress the Girl
Different Perspective
Sweet Ride
Perfect Little Piggies B&W
Flipping the Light Fantastic
Festival of Flights
To the Crowd's Delight
Amish Go Round
Wondersome One
The Stars In Her Eyes
Tuesday's Child
Sleeper Hold
Considering the Next Move
Sugar and Spice
Front Porch Portrait
Caged Competitor
Early Adoration
Child In the Ligtht
Stroll Through the Weeds
Attention Grabbing
Eye Contact
On the Line
Eyes of Wonder
Rounding the Curve
Troubadours of Basin Spring Park
Down by the Creek
Sun Day
Catching Some Light
EAA Fireworks
Hear Me Roar
Leaves
Rambling Wild Beauty
These delicate white flowers are a version of a Wild Rose. This plant was found on a hike through the woods of northwest Missouri. Don’t you love the pink bud?
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Death Warmed Over
A turkey vulture is perched and poised, with outstretched wings, to dry in the sun after a dip in a nearby creek at Stockstill Park in Branson, Missouri.
I had just seen a dozen or so of these vultures in and around the rocky creek bed. My efforts to photograph them near the water didn’t go well due to the distance and the bright sunlight, making them seem more like dark silhouettes. And, of course, as soon as they spotted me, they flew off.
A little further on our hike I tried to approach the creek from a different direction, where the light might be better. As I made my way through the woods I came upon this and another vulture, holding their wings wide with their backs to the sun, to dry off from being in the water. If you look closely, you can see this one is still quite wet.
They held their pose and position long enough for me to get close enough to get a good shot.
You can get a better view of this big bird by clicking on the photo.
All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me (pops@popsdigital.com) for digital purchase and licensing options.
A Bold Stand
A Wisconsin farm field provides a lush green foreground to a fence row of trees showcasing vibrant autumn colors of red, orange, and yellow. Overcast skies add a dramatic contrast to the vivid hues of the foliage.
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All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me (pops@popsdigital.com) for digital purchase and licensing options.
Tuliptree Blossom with Guest
A vibrant green tuliptree flower with a rich yellow center is in full bloom, surrounded by large, lobed leaves. Some sort of insect is nestled in the flower’s petals, possibly collecting nectar or pollen.
Also shown in this photo is one of the tuliptree’s cone-like seed clusters that sit upright on the branches. The tuliptree is one of the largest native trees in North America. It is a member of the magnolia family and has distinct tulip shaped flowers. The golden-yellow fall color of the tuliptree makes this an excellent choice for large landscapes.
I found this tuliptree in bloom while strolling the grounds at College of the Ozarks, just south of Branson, Missouri.
Getting this shot was not an easy task. The blooms are up in a tree, well above my head and reach. To get this image, I employed a monopod. I extended it the full length, set the camera’s timer and guessed at the focal distance. Then, after pressing the shutter button to activate the timer, I hoisted the camera above the bloom and waited for the “click” sound. Then I’d lower it to eye level and look at the result. It took about six or seven attempts to get the correct framing and sharpness.
All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me (pops@popsdigital.com) for digital purchase and licensing options.
Spring Maple Sprouts
A cluster of red maple leaves sprout out of the rough bark of the tree’s trunk. Their color gives the impression of fall, but this is new growth in April.
These are leaves that I photographed on a hike through the Bluff Woods Conservation Area, located south of St. Joseph, Missouri.
You can get a better view of the intricate veins of these young leaves by clicking on the photo to see a larger version.
All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me (pops@popsdigital.com) for digital purchase and licensing options.
Baubles of Nature
A vibrant green leaf is adorned with multiple water droplets along its scalloped edges, creating a fresh and dewy appearance. I like the serene feeling the soft background lighting gives this image.
This is an image from one of my slow walks through the woods of northwest Missouri. The colors and simplicity of this image makes it one of my favorites. This was actually taken a few years back. I have plenty of nice shots I just haven’t gotten around to processing.
If you want to get a better view of the detail in that leaf, click on the photo and a larger version will open in a new browser tab.
All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me (pops@popsdigital.com) for digital purchase and licensing options.
Prickly Poppy
This was a delightful find! This is a prickly poppy. I didn’t know this type of flower existed until I found this one by happenstance.
On our recent trip to Custer State Park in South Dakota, we had pulled over in the area of a small prairie dog town. As I was trying to get some good photos of the prairie dogs, I noticed this white flower. It was the only one in that area. I believe I found this particular bloom at its peak. We have poppies at our home in northeast Wisconsin but they are the large, redish-orange variety that have a very short blooming period in early spring. Finding this delicate white flower on a prickly plant blooming in late summer was a nice surprise.
From the little I was able to find online, the prickly poppy is a beautiful wildflower that lives for only one growing season. It grows naturally in sandy, dry areas. New plants grow from seed produced the previous year. The papery white flowers bloom throughout the summer. The plant has blue-green leaves and the stems are covered with sharp spines.
You can get a better view of the details in this flower image by clicking on the photo.
All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me (pops@popsdigital.com) for digital purchase and licensing options.
Wild Bee on Wild Bergamot
The wild bergamot blooms seemed to be a favorite work site of the wild bees. This is another image gathered from our hike through the nature trail along Baird Creek in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
This was a difficult image to capture because the lighting was pretty dim and the bee wouldn’t hold still, but I do like the detail of the translucent wings.
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All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me (pops@popsdigital.com) for digital purchase and licensing options.
Woodland Stemware
On a late summer hike through the woodlands of Tippecanoe River State Park in Indiana I spotted these unique mushrooms. At least I think their mushrooms. In a search of mushrooms I couldn’t find any that were cupped on long stems. They reminded me of long-stemmed wine glasses. Maybe some fungus fanatic can help identify them.
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All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me (pops@popsdigital.com) for digital purchase and licensing options.
Over Purple Clover
Even the very simple and common can be a work of beauty. While walking through the woods in NW Missouri I came upon this solitary stalk of purple clover blooming. It was early spring and about the only thing blooming in the woods.
Purple Clover is also commonly called Red Clover. According to North Carolina State Extension…
The common name for Trifolium pratense, Red Clover, can be confusing as the flowers are more a pink to pink/purplish, not a true red. It is grown as a forage crop for pasturage and hay for livestock. It is a nitrogen-fixing plant and is often grown as a cover crop to improve soil fertility. Its native habitat includes fields, pastures, meadows, waste areas, and along roadsides. It can be found in grassy locations that are not regularly mowed.
It can be easily distinguished from other varieties of clover by the large pink flower heads as well as the chevrons that appear on the leaflets.
Its flowers have a honey-like fragrance. The foliage can produce a pleasant clover-like scent. The flowering heads and foliage are both edible, both raw or cooked. Its young leaves should be harvested before the plant flowers. They can be used in salads or soups or cooked similar to spinach. The flowering heads as well as the seed pods can be dried and used as a flour substitute. The young flower are also eaten raw in salads.
It has also been widely used for athlete’s foot, constipation, ulcers, corms, and menopause. Red clover contains isoflavones. The edible flowers taste sweet or like hay but they are not easily digestible. Do not eat the flowers if pregnant or nursing.
All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me (pops@popsdigital.com) for digital purchase and licensing options.